On Mon, 25 Sep 2000 03:04:05 EDT, you wrote:
>I'm still waiting for a USATF press release on Hunter.
>
>I would have thought that the folks at USATF would have spoken by now.?
>
>
>To quote Ted Knight in Caddyshack..................."Well, we're
>waiting??????????"
>
>
>Schiefer
The IAAF press release said the result "will be sent" to
the USATF for appropriate action.
Future tense.
Implying that it had not already been sent, and given the
timing, the IAAF probably had no intention of making any
public statement about it until after the Sydney closing
ceremonies, were it not flushed out by a leak somewhere.
[not to say that some people at the USATF hadn't received
notification phone calls from the testers in European
some time back, as had C.J.]
I'm sure the USATF would take the position that they don't
issue press releases for things they don't have in hand.
Furthermore, their policy based on the U.S. court
environment is that they can't release anything as long
as a "b" sample test and the appeal process are incomplete.
The IAAF and many other nations do not have any such
policy, since the name and reputation of the athlete
do not carry any value in a legal sense like it does in
the U.S.
I have long been of the opinion that the IAAF, the USATF
and other major federations should hammer out a compromise
agreement to issue a press notice after EVERY test, whether
it's positive or negative, and say that a test was
conducted, the "A" sample was ....... negative or positive,
fill in the blank. If negative include the athlete's name,
if positive say it is athlete "X", and the name will be
provided after further testing and possible appeals or
arbitration are completed.
Issue it once a week as a "list".
That would be appropriate disclosure without violating
any athlete's rights.
The only question remaining is whether the athlete is
barred from competition while the appeal process is
underway. That's a tougher one to find a compromise that
everybody can agree to.
RT
